How Much is that Asset in the Window?

A: An asset is worth whatever the highest bidder will pay for it at the time you offer it for sale.

Q: Come on, the value of an asset must be more enduring than that. You look at the balance sheets of corporations, and they don’t list their assets at sales prices.

A: That’s for a different purpose. We can’t get the prices of all assets to trade frequently. The economic world isn’t only about trading, it is about building objects, offering services… and really, it is about making people happier through service. Because the assets don’t trade regularly, they are entered onto the balance sheet at:

Cost, which is sometimes adjusted for cost and other things that are time-related, and subject to writedowns.

The value of the asset at its most recent sale date before the date of the statement

An estimated value calculated from sales of assets like it, meant to reflect the likely markets at the time of the statement — what might the price be in a deal between and un-coerced buyer and seller?

Anyway, values in financial statements are only indicative of aspects of value. Few investors use them in detail. Even value investors who use the detailed balance sheet values in their investment decisions make extensive adjustments to them to try to make them more realistic. Other value investors look at where the prices of similar companies that went private to try to estimate the value of public equities.

Certainly the same thing goes on with real estate. Realtors and appraisers come up with values of comparable properties, and make adjustments to try to estimate the value of the property in question. Much as realtors don’t like Zillow, it does the same thing just with a huge econometric model that factors in as much information as they have regarding the likely prices of residential real estate given the prices of the sparse number of sales that they have to work from.

Q: What if it’s a bad day when I offer my asset for sale? Is my asset worth less simply because of transitory conditions?

A: Do you have to sell your asset that day or not?

Q: Why does that matter?

A: If you don’t need the money immediately, you could wait. You also don’t have to auction the asset if you think that hiring an expert come in and talk with a variety of motivated buyers could result in a better price after commissions. There are no guarantees of a better result there though.

The same problem exists on the stock market. If you want the the money now, issue a market order to sell the security, and you will get something close to the best price at that moment. That said, I never use market orders.

Q: Why don’t you use market orders?

A: I don’t want to be left at the mercy of those trading rapidly in the markets. I would rather set out a price that I think someone will transact at, and adjust it if need be. Nothing is guaranteed — a trade might not get done. But I won’t get caught in a “flash crash” type of scenario, or most other types of minor market manipulation.

Patience is a virtue in buying and selling, as is the option of walking away. If you seem to be a forced seller, buyers will lower their bids if you seem to be desperate. You may not notice this in liquid stocks, but in illiquid stocks and other illiquid assets, this is definitely a factor.

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That’s all for now. If anyone has any ideas on if, where, or how I should continue this piece, let me know in the comments, or send me an e-mail. Thanks for reading.